Cervical stitch - where to have it done?

[MAR77]

Hi ladies, I’m currently 20+5 weeks pregnant and need a cervical stitch. The length of my cervix dropped from 3.8cm to 2.5 in only 2 weeks. Because I’m pregnant for the first time at the age of 42, and been trying to conceive for a very long time (lots of failed IVF treatments too), I really don’t want to risk losing this baby.
I was offered stitch at Newham hospital. I’m not very keen on having this stitch done at Newham , and would like to know where did you have stitches done and how did it go. I’m also considering in looking for a private gynaecologist. Who would you recommend?
Please help, I’m in a great dilemma.

I had my cervical stitch at St Thomas’ a few weeks ago. The pre-term clinic there is one of the best in the country and I felt confident knowing they knew what they were doing.

These guys put stitches in day in and day out, so although I also had the opportunity to go privately, I stuck with NHS. The team is overseen by Professor Andrew Shenann. I would def recommend.

Best of luck!

Id think about what extra service you get if you go private. A load of the clinicians I work with (doctors, sonographers etc) do private work to suppliment their NHS income. So you get the same people you get if you were to have it done in the NHS.

Of course if theres somethin extra you get from having it done privately, go for it.

Thanks so much for your replies.

Marmitepeanutbutterandhoney can I ask at what week did you have your cerclage?
I’ve decided not to have cerclage. Had another scan 2 days ago and the cervix is still 2.5cm with no funnelling. I’m hoping progesterone and bed rest will help me.

Hi, I had mine placed at 16 weeks. I’m now 19 weeks. I was very unsure whether to go ahead but went with the doctors advice in the end.

Take it easy and hope things go well :)

Hi MAR77, I just came across your thread, I had my cervical stitch done nearly 3 weeks ago at Newham hospital in London. My cervix went from 40mm to 28mm, I was given a week on progesterone and reviewed again, my cervix length hadn't changed much from 28mm but I opted for the stitch as my son who is now 19 months was born at 26 weeks which is why they kept a close eye on my cervix this time around, even though we don't know if he was born early due to an incompetent cervix or an infection. I am still taking the progesterone and have to take it easy. I hope you are doing well, if you need an further advice I am happy to help

Hi Salina2,

Thank you for sharing your experience. In the end, i didn’t have cerclage. I’ve had progesterone therapy and been on bed rest. So far my cervix has remained stable. Fingers crossed! I wanted to ask you do you have vaginal swabs to check for infections? I’ve become kind of obsessed lately, and had some burning sensation, probably caused by progesterone pessaries. I’ve wanted to have vaginal swab at the hospital but they said they don’t do vaginal swabs. It seems to me really strange as infections can cause premature birth/miscarriage, and not all infections can be picked up through urine.

I had one with my twins but my cervix was 1.3 at 23 with major funneling...the longest it was was 2.5 at 12 weeks. I think you need to talk to your consultant but having a stitch carries risk especially after 20weeks (I was told mine only had about 60% chance of working) and it might be that progesterone and bedrest are a better option. There was also a clinical trial about using ring pesaries to support the cervix just after I had my two..not sure if anything came of it but it might be worth a look.

Sorry cross posted..I did have swabs at one point but I think they tend to try and have the minimum amount of interference incase it sets off prem labour.

Hi MAR77, so I am currently on treatment for thrush, iv had thrush a few times this pregnancy which causes irritation and itching, they said the progesterone can actually cause thrush itself and the pessary can be inserted into the rectum. I had to go to Barts sexual health clinic in Stratford to get swabs done to check for any infections, they gave me treatment for BV, this was before I had the stitches. I would recommend going into the walk in clinic in Stratford to get checked for any infections as the hospital don't do it, it will put your mind at ease and if you need any treatment you can be given it sooner rather than later... I'm happy to hear the progesterone and bed rest is working well for you. I had the option to continue with just progesterone and not have the stitch but because of my history I decided to have the stitch done. How many weeks are you now? Are you having regular checks ups still? Wishing you all the best of luck and feel free to PM me x

Hi Salina2,

Thank you for advising me where to go. I did call few sexual clinics and they told me they don’t test all of the most common bacterial pregnancy infections, but only BV and thrush. There are so many bacterial infections that don’t get picked up through urine, so I’m surprised we have to go a sexual clinic just to get tested for one infection.
Are you on Facebook group called Incompetent Cervix UK-Pregnancy related? Join it, it’s a great group where you can share information and learn new things. I noticed that ladies in that group do have both low vaginal swabs as well as cervical swabs done at their hospital triage. Could it be that our hospital is one of the few hospitals that doesn’t deal with this task? I really don’t know.